Two young girls were struck by gunfire within hours of each other at separate south Atlanta apartment complexes over the weekend, one of which has been the site of several other shootings, authorities said.
On Saturday, Atlanta police responded to the Hidden Creste Apartments on Stone Road at around 6:20 p.m. for a person shot call. Officers were told a 12-year-old girl was shot in the leg and was stable when taken to a hospital. She was not publicly identified.
According to investigators, the girl was outside her apartment with a group of people when someone accidentally fired a weapon, striking her. The suspect left the scene before officers arrived and remains at large.
The complex is located a short distance from Stone Hogan Park and the North Camp Creek Parkway Nature Preserve.
“Investigators are gathering information on the incident and working to determine the identity of the shooter,” police said.
Less than nine hours later, at about 2:50 a.m. Sunday, officers were sent to The Villages at Carver apartments along Moury Avenue for another person shot call. After finding evidence of a shooting there, but no victims, police said officers were told a 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man had been taken to a hospital.
The girl was found to have suffered a gunshot wound to her arm, while the man was shot in the arm and leg, authorities said. Their names were not released.
“The preliminary investigation indicates there was a gathering at the location and at some point shots were fired and the victims were struck,” police added.
According to authorities, several buildings were struck by gunfire and shell casings littered the scene. A motive for the shooting is unclear at this time and no information was provided by police about possible suspects.
The Villages at Carver is among 275 of the metro area’s persistently dangerous complexes, according to the AJC’s “Dangerous Dwellings” investigation that looked into serious crimes, lax maintenance and other hazards in Atlanta neighborhoods.
A person was critically wounded in a January shooting at the complex, and in 2022 at least four people were fatally struck by gunfire there.
In December, Darshae Barnes Jr. was arrested in the shooting deaths of 17-year-old JaMarquez McCrary and 18-year-old Nyriek Olds at the Moury Avenue apartments. The two teens were found in a breezeway at an apartment building June 19 with gunshot wounds to their chests, according to a police report. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
About three months earlier, a 16-year-old boy was found fatally shot at The Villages at Carver after neighbors reported hearing several rounds of gunfire, police said.
In January 2022, police said 30-year-old Oumar Mbodj died in the hospital after being shot at the apartment complex.
Sunday’s shooting remains under investigation.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
About the Author
